Bok Tower - March 2012
Page 2: To the Tower
You walk from your parked car through a welcoming area, complete with gift shop and information desk. I stopped and signed into the guest book, and filled out the questionnaires asking where I came from and why I was visiting the tower and gardens. Ordinarily I avoid this sort of thing like the plague, but I make exceptions now and then, and this was one of them. These people are worthy. Pass through the small courtyard, and into grounds of the botanical garden. Pathways wind along and lead you uphill through an enveloping riot of native vegetation, all of which has been carefully arranged and planted, despite its very wild look in places. Just a few other people, here and there. Quiet. Serene. Balmy. The soft touch of a comfortingly warm breeze embraces you as it whispers through the greenery. Bird songs lilt upon the air. Spanish moss festoons large oaks, everywhere you look. Palms. Magnolias. Azaleas. Soft green grass. Very Southern ambience.
Ahead, the paved path gives way to a lawn of nice grass for walking on, you turn a corner, and there stands the tower, resplendent.
Words don't work very well for this sort of thing, and pictures don't either, but we'll do the best we can. Be sure to click on the images on these pages to see the enlarged versions, and then just kind of drift around inside the image for a while, if you can. There's an awful lot going on, and it's not the sort of thing you can just glance at on the fly, and gain any benefit from it. If you're not inclined toward a studied consideration of things, you will miss much, and much of the very best, at that.
Ahead, the paved path gives way to a lawn of nice grass for walking on, you turn a corner, and there stands the tower, resplendent.
Words don't work very well for this sort of thing, and pictures don't either, but we'll do the best we can. Be sure to click on the images on these pages to see the enlarged versions, and then just kind of drift around inside the image for a while, if you can. There's an awful lot going on, and it's not the sort of thing you can just glance at on the fly, and gain any benefit from it. If you're not inclined toward a studied consideration of things, you will miss much, and much of the very best, at that.
A languid serenity pervades the air. A few people pass by, now and then, but not very many. The full intent of the makers of this wonder is realized, and you can feel yourself willingly falling under its spell.
Peace and tranquility infuse everything in all directions. Wherever your eye falls, that which is seen reinforces the overarching calm.
The tower draws you to it, and you pad quietly down pathways of dappled sunlight and shadow, and across soft green lawns in its direction. Take your shoes off. Feel the blades of grass between your toes. It's very nice, isn't it?
Nearing your destination, you reach the end of the lawn, and discover that Bok Tower is surrounded by a moat of all marvellous things! Like a storybook castle, or something. But it's not a very large or forbidding moat, and instead only serves to set off the tower from its surroundings, and within the water, ornamental fish can be seen swimming. As moats go, this is an extraordinarily nice moat.
And there, directly before you across the small space of water, set into the very base of the tower, sits a stunning great brass door that would reflect well on the finest artisans of Renaissance Italy.
Nearing your destination, you reach the end of the lawn, and discover that Bok Tower is surrounded by a moat of all marvellous things! Like a storybook castle, or something. But it's not a very large or forbidding moat, and instead only serves to set off the tower from its surroundings, and within the water, ornamental fish can be seen swimming. As moats go, this is an extraordinarily nice moat.
And there, directly before you across the small space of water, set into the very base of the tower, sits a stunning great brass door that would reflect well on the finest artisans of Renaissance Italy.
The great brass door is well worth a bit of extra time to examine closely. The picture to the right of these words, when clicked, opens to a pretty good sized full image. Scroll around with it, after you've opened it up. The panels depict the biblical story of creation, and although I'm not personally a big fan of bible stories, I am a big fan of exceptionally well-done art. Dive in and enjoy yourself with it for a while, and then consider what must have been required to produce such a thing, starting with a cauldron of molten metal. Amazing!